Time of Change
by Girl With A Heart Of Ice
Summary: Every step from here on out was going to be like stepping on class, every breath would be like breathing fire. It would hurt to alive -to be free. He would be hunted and the people he held dear would be watched, accused and hurt. The suspicions on both sides would eventually turn into reality -because that's how this world worked. And only the truth could change it.
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings: mentions of death, slight blood (nothing graphic), angst (maybe?)  
Pairings: SasuSaku and NaruHina mentioned in passing**

Time of Change

Naruto appeared in a flash -his cloak swirling in the cold winds that blew on the cliff. Below he saw the sculpted heads of the hokages, his own included. It was already dark and the while the sky was cloudless, the bright lights of the village concealed most of the stars. The village leader spotted a dark figure sitting atop the head of the first hokage.

_The man who gave the last true Uchiha child_ _hope and a resolve to protect the village. His answer allowed the other to stand-up for his own ideals -even if they were wrong in the end. And he had saved his dearest friend, so he held Hashirama in high regard. _

Naruto jumped down to join his best friend -_he had come back, he protected the village, they were still friends and now the other could see the greater good -_and the other turned his head slightly as a sign that he knew that the blond was there. Sasuke seemed to return to watching the village below them and Naruto observed him for a moment.

In the darkness the dark hair seemed even darker than in daylight and combined with his black cloak, pants and shoes his body melted into the surrounding darkness. Even the brown stone that was heavily shadowed seemed light in comparison.

_Naruto frowned -the darkness had taken his friends so many times; when he left, when he killed his brother, when he joined the brainwashed Obito and attacked Bee, when he attacked the Kage summit, when he tried to kill Sakura, when he thought destroying Konoha was the solution and when he wanted to kill the Kage. He wanted to keep his friend in the light -a task that had proved impossible since Sasuke's unique skill set and his attitude had driven him to the darkness of the village. Something that Kakashi had taken advantage of and assigned Sasuke missions that Naruto had never heard of and never would if his predecessor had anything to say about it._

"It's getting cold. Couldn't you've come to my office?" Naruto asked and kept his gaze firmly on the man sitting in front of him. The last pure blood Uchiha turned his gaze toward Naruto for the first time. His visible right eye looked like an abyss as it met Narutos' blue orbs. Sasuke tilted his head -hair shifting to briefly reveal the Rinnegan but he turned his face from the other, concealing the eye once again.

"No. You should know that those wall's have ears." Sasuke answered and Naruto sighed.

"You don't trust your co-workers-"And he was suddenly met with the red of the sharingan eye before he continued, "and that means that you don't trust the village. That you don't me." Naruto paused and met the blazing red eye with resignation.

_There was so much darkness in Sasuke and no matter how many bonds the raven fixed and no matter how much he trust he gained within the village he was still a criminal to many. And Sasuke saw his actions as something that resulted from the way the village system was build and set-up. Naruto had tried to form a bridge between the angry young man and the suspicious village. He had argued for the humanity of the village in the trial and he had begged for understanding from the elders that caused this whole mess. He asked for patience from Sasuke and told him that things would change. __**Had they? **__Naruto couldn't say._

"At least never say that in front of Kakashi or Shikamaru, you would be branded a traitor immediately." Naruto told the other while taking a seat next to the other. There was a cold a snort from the other, but the red faded from the Uchihas' eye.

"As if that brand was ever erased." Sasuke said and the iciness made the blonde shiver.

"You came back. You've protected this village and me from countless threats since then…" The Jinchuriki said but could tell that there wasn't his usual determination and trust in those words.

_Did any of it matter? Was Sasuke anymore loved than before? Sakura had always loved him and his Sarada was a given. Boruto saw him as a beloved teacher and uncle -as did Himawari-, almost all of the Konoha 11 had fully forgiven or accepted the raven haired Uchiha. Kakashi had wanted proof but he now trusted the sharingan wielder like any comrade and the opinions of the majority of the shinobi were mostly vaguely positive. __**The whispers of traitor, kinslayer, terrible father, whore and killer were just that, whispers. They meant nothing. Right?**_

Sasuke shook his head and the pair fell into a silence. The cold wind rustled in the leaves and slightly moved their respective cloaks. Naruto didn't say anything more. He didn't move. They just needed to be silent -_**together**_\- once in while to forget their lives -_**their lies**_. Naruto reached a hand out and laid it on the other's shoulder. For a moment the other tensed before relaxing and turning his gaze from the village to the sky above them.

"I'll be leaving tonight." Sasuke told him and Naruto lowered his hand.

"Kakashi?" The blonde asked and Sasuke nodded. Naruto turned his gaze down, heavy frown settling on his face.

"What kind of mission is it?" He asked, knowing already that he wouldn't get an answer. He rarely did. As Naruto expected the other remained silent, shaking his head slightly.

"Fine." Naruto sighed before standing up. The village lights shined brightly. "I'll go back to the office." He was about to turn before a hand settled on his shoulder.

_So silent and so fast. The other continued growing and becoming stronger and faster each day while Naruto's progress had long since stilled. The fight with Toneri had been the last big push that forced him to advance -after that everything else had been so insignificant. Sasuke had been travelling the five nations and the world beyond them ever since the last war. He had seen different worlds, different dimensions, different times. He had kept on growing and becoming stronger. It wasn't that Sasuke was the only one that could rival Naruto -it was that Naruto was the only one who could put up a fight against the last pure Uchiha. _

"Tell Sakura that I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly." _Naruto could tell that he wasn't sorry -not really. _The blonde nodded and locked eyes with the dark-haired ninja.

"Come home soon. Hinata has been suggesting that you guys could come over for dinner some time when you're around." Sasuke nodded to the blonde and Naruto smiled before vanishing.

Sasuke stood still. His breath was calm, his posture relaxed but on guard. Naruto hadn't noticed -_he should have, he was crying, screaming in his head the whole time- _and the raven-haired ninja dropped his gaze. Eyes focussed on the grains of sand on the stone surface. Each moment seemed to stretch on and on. Sasuke lifted his gaze and turned back to the village. The happiness seemed to radiate from it.

_**The happiness had been bought with blood, tears and countless bodies and sacrifices.**__ None of which Sasuke could ever forgive and he wondered how anyone else could either. __**But he was just standing by -doing nothing.**__ The sacrifices of the people like his brother had gone unnoticed by the people below him. __**They didn't know and they didn't care to know.**__ Ignorance was the greatest asset of this corrupt village._

Sasuke felt hatred run through his body -_as hot and molten as it had been over a decade ago, as fierce as it had been before the other had assured him of change; __**nothing had changed**_\- and his fist clenched, before he relaxed. The anger would serve him better later. When his mission requires it.

Sasuke cast a last disdainful look at the village before he vanished. Moving faster than any other shinobi in the village since the second or fourth Hokage he shunshied to Sakura's house -_how could it ever be his when he had barely slept there? How could he call this place home when it was located in this village that harboured so may dark secrets, and was so deeply stained with blood that it would never be wiped clean? _

Carefully stepping up the stairs he entered the house and made his way toward the bedroom on the right. The house had been cleaned recently -Sakura had yesterday off and she had spent it cleaning and preparing food for her beloved husband- and the dishes from the dinner had been cleaned away. They had been there when he had left earlier. Sakura had left for work and Sarada was fast asleep. She too had a mission the next day.

_He asked Kakashi if he was planning on forcing Sarada down the same path as many other Uchiha before her- operatives whose only purpose was to serve the village and be of use via their accursed eyes born of hatred and loss. The silver haired man had refused to answer. Sasuke had his answer. _

Entering the dark bedroom, he silently made his way to the bed. His daughter slept soundly under the covers. He paused, hesitating for a moment before allowing his eyes to shift to the red of the sharingan. The memory of his daughter was burned into his memory and as he reached a gentle hand to her head he memorized her scent, the sound of her soft breathing and finally the feel of her soft hair.

_Sasuke was the last pure blooded Uchiha, born to Fugaku whose line had been the main bloodline since the beginning of their clan and Mikoto whose bloodline had also been around since before Madara's time. Any child born from a union of an Uchiha and a non-Uchiha was regarded as a lesser Uchiha or a non-Uchiha depending on the power of their Uchiha parent. Sasuke was the clan leader's son and as such Sarada would have been considered a lesser Uchiha of impure blood and Sasuke would have been abandoned by the main family but she would have been a part of the clan. She would have never become a matriarch to the family. And if Sasuke had been the leader he would have been stripped of his title and men from the other families could have challenged him for the leadership position. __**Sarada would never experience any of it -and he couldn't figure out if he was glad that she was spared from that or if he was furious with the people had stolen the chance of the normal Uchiha life from her.**_

Sasuke kneeled before her and brought his lips to her forehead. A single drop of blood rolled down his cheek. His hand formed the last sign and the jutsu took affect immediately. Sarada gasped -her eyes flying open before his eyes locked onto hers and her eyelids fluttered shut once again. The truth of everything that had happened with the clan had been preserved and hidden. Only he and Sarad could ever gain access and with this jutsu he assured that she would find it one day.

_He heard from Sakura that Sarada had been going around asking questions about him and at the same time about his family -__**her family. **__Sasuke had wanted to tell the Sarada when she was old enough to understand but Sakura had asked him to wait. And then he had left and never got the change to tell her. Now he was giving her the chance to find the answer safely and decide for herself. _

He stood, hand resting on Saradas head for a moment, before he turned and walked out of the house. He vanished and then reappeared outside the village. Wiping the blood of his cheek he quickly summoned two normal sized hawks. They were both dark brown and wore a small vest with the Uchiha crest upon it. One of the inquired after their task and he motioned for them to settle on his shoulders.

"How can we help, Sasuke-sama?" The male asked and Sasuke pulled out a miniature scroll that he put in the leg container tied around the hawks' leg.

"Take that to Orochimaru or one of his subordinates, Juugo or Karin. But no Suigetsu -there's no telling what he'll do with it." The hawk nodded and took off. Sasuke turned to the other hawk and gave her several scrolls. "Take them back with you and share them among the other carriers -after three moons in your time take them to _**those people**_. Understood?" He asked and the hawk nodded.

"Good luck, Sasuke-sama." She told him before vanishing. As soon as she was gone there was slight rustling from the bushes before a purple snake slithered toward him from the bushes. Sasuke kneeled and offered his hand to the snake. It quickly wrapped around it and Sasuke started walking while the snake hissed to him. When the snake finished he stopped.

"Go talk to Boruto -I'm sure that he could benefit from a summoning contract." The Uchiha said and received a "Yes, Sasuke-sama" before setting the snake down and continuing on his way.

The moon became brighter the further he walked from the village -it's lights fading into darkness behind him. Sasuke stopped only when he heard the rustling of someone tailing him. It was faint, but with ears as trained as his, it was easy to spot.

Sasuke turned around and faced the tail. The man revealed himself with a kunai drawn. With him came a several dozen others. The headbands were a mix of Konoha, Iwa and Kumo. Sasuke didn't hesitate -this was his mission after all.

_The darkness had been grasping at his heels for years now. None would doubt that the reformed Uchiha had never been reformed and had in fact always been unstable and crazy. He would take on the hate of the villages, the hate from civilians, shinobis, children, elderly, warriors, cowards, medics, preachers, teachers, criminals and the innocents. This mission was his to fulfil and once it was done, he could finally leave. Travelling to lands unknown to others, lands filled with acceptance and no questions- __**no whispers. **__Had he been able he would have taken Sarada and his dear student and their families -__**to build a better life away from the failing system-**__ but none of them would have agreed with this. _

The first body that hit the ground seemed to be the final nail in his own coffin. The flood gates of hatred opened and both sides attacked with vigour -the last Uchiha in desperate attempt to grasp his freedom and the enemy in suspicious and unjust rage that they had been harbouring for years and finally got to unleash. They were all jonin -_**brainwashed by the villages**_\- but Sauke didn't falter. His battle instincts were already beyond any other shinobi and his collection of jutsu's was larger than either of his former teachers -_**the other who drove him away with his demons and the one who offered him everything he had ever desired.**_

When the final man was dead Sasuke turned from the scene and vanished. By morning his desertion and betrayal would be the top news in every village. His daughter would be confused, a loving father turning his back on the village- _**a village that he had been away from for a long time and left her alone with her questions and need of loving arms of her father-**_ and his student would have a hard time wrapping his head around the devoted man turning his back on the village. Their teammate would know the truth and guide them to the truth if they desired it. And with the information that he had given to Sarada and with the message that he would get to Boruto trough the snake he was certain that they would reach to truth -_**and in the future they would change the world. **_

Sakura would cry and rage and then finally swear to kill him along with the rest of the Konoha 11. Kakashi would smile in the darkness before hiding it behind his mask -_the cloth and the emotionless façade-_ as he ordered the new Root agents after the runaway Uchiha. Naruto would stare at the Hokage monument in determination before reaffirming his resolve to change things. He would be stopped and after that he would wonder why he couldn't save his best friend -_**again and again the other slipped further away, why didn't he see and why didn't he listen-**_ before turning his back on the man who had hurt his precious village.

_Every step from here on out was going to be like stepping on class, every breath would be like breathing fire. He was alive and it would hurt. It would hurt to alive and to be__** free.**__ He would be hunted and the people he held dear would be hunted, hurt and insulted. They would be watched and the suspicions on both sides would turn into reality -__**because that's how this world worked.**__ Each moment he lived those who lived in ignorance would live in fear and those who saw beyond the lies would live in pain. But this had been the desire of all the villages -__**the shadows that had been whispering for over a decade.**_

Sasuke smiled a cold, cruel smile. This world was twisted that he couldn't even begin to detangle it. Only an idiot would try -_**Naruto had tried and failed.**_Sasuke had planted the seeds of truth and had given the people who he cared a chance to find the truth for themselves. And he gave them a way out. He would be waiting for the others to join him -_**in a place free of these lies and darkness, in a land faraway from here.**_

Sasuke stepped into the darkness of the portal before him. A hawk screeched in the distance and snakes hissed. _**They were his eyes and ears. He would wait, listen and watch. After all, he had and eternity before him and Sasuke was going to change this accursed world. **__Uniting it, was the first step- Madara and Kaguya had caused it. Step two was to keep it united -the fractures of suspicions and accusations had to be healed and Sasuke was going to fulfil the role of an archenemy, creating chaos and unity at the same time. Step three was to start changing the system.__** And only the truth could change it. Sasuke was going to show the truth to them all. **_

**A/N**

**I'm here again. Another Naruto fanfic rattling around my head. So once again a part of my inspiration came from A_Hawk and their work which depicts the canon ending a rather negative light. I'm a fan of their work and though this work doesn't connect any of their work, the feel of the story and sometimes the structure may feel similar. **

**Bonds of Our Love hasn't been updated in a while but not to worry -I'll start editing the chapters that I've written already. So more coming on that front as well in time. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Naruto/Boruto and the some of the inspiration and direction came from A_Hawk.**

**I'm not a native English speaker, so forgive my grammar errors.**

**Hope you enjoyed! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warnings: depression, mentions of blood, symbolism and metaphors.  
Pairings: NaruHina and past SasuSaku hinted **** aka they have kids/the kids exist, so pairing.**

Time of change

Her hair had grown longer. He noticed it just as he noticed how downcast her eyes were. The pale skin had become even paler in the months after her father's disappearance. The shadows beneath her eyes however seemed lighter than what you would expect. She seemed to sleep peacefully at night. _And maybe that was the only time she would be at peace these days, lost in the long lost moments of love and safety, of strong embraces and delighted laughter and chuckles. _

He glanced at the boy beside the dark-haired girl. The blond hair had lost its familiar shine that he had grown so very used to. His blue eyes gazing not only to the wide blue expanse above but to the dirt below his feet -_that's right, from the among the dirt, grass and leaves a message came._ He was looking for the next sign.

_They all were. The sun scorched the earth below as its searching gaze scoured the lands. The darkness smiled and silenced those who doubted, tortured those who knew of whispers and watched those it suspected. __**Those cold eyes had been watching him for days. **__The blossoming tree shuddered before digging its roots deeper into the tainted soil below. The ink stains spread while the brightest flowers withered in the darkness left behind. Insects scattered while the animals huddled closer together as if fearing a blow would land. The shadows twisted angrily, like they had been offended by the darkness that laughed at their indignation. _

_His sun looked to the sky before abandoning the smile and looking to the ground. His sky blue searching for the darkness beneath their feet, hiding behind the corners and under his bed. He reached out to the crimson eyed moon that shunned her beloved sun shining high above them all. She refused to reflect the light that cast shadows -__**shadows that had taken all she held dear**__, because they knew that the darkness hidden in their amidst was the one responsible for it all. They all knew the tainted soil below tainted the trees and flowers around them and that the sun they loved was false -__**even if the sun thought of itself as true.**_

The time to tell had been drawing closer for days and, he knew, that his remaining time was dwindling. The eyes that followed his every move had been growing closer to him and his team. They both suspected something was wrong with the stories and whispers told. The lies that usually wrapped those within the village walls into their embrace so gently were too harsh, too convenient. Questions had been asked and the silencing of those questions raised more though few were brave enough to voice them -_**since the darkness was always watching.**_

"You okay, Sarada?" The laughter had long since died from his voice. Her answer was muted nod.

"_I'm not. How could I be? MY FATHER is GONE! Again!" _

Mitsuki didn't believe her. And neither did Boruto. "Don't lie. You haven't even touched your food." The blond said and was met with a dark glare.

She slept fine. Her appearance was carefully maintained even as she was falling part. But a ninja could easily spot the fact that she had gotten thinner. Her strength had decreased -_as though the village had sucked the strength to resist out of her. _Boruto was worried, and when the blond boy was worried, so was Mitsuki.

"Come on, eat something. We have a mission tomorrow. Being tired and hungry will be dangerous." He reasoned because she didn't want the pity. So he didn't give it to her. She needed reason and logic to ground her in this moment. So he offered that to her. Boruto nodded along with him.

"That's right. It's gonna be a hard mission so you need to eat and gather your strength for it so we can do our best." It was strange to hear the other boy being so excited about a mission. Mtsuki suspected that it was more for Sarada's sake than anyone else -_he needed to distract himself from the pain of losing his idol and family friend._

Mitsuki watched as the girl took a determined bite out of the burger set before her. Her eyes, the dark pools of blackness shone with something that Mitsuki could not name. He had lived, evolved and grown with these two for a long while, but every now and then there were moments he couldn't quite grasp.

There was a flash over the table -a shadow outside. Golden eyes turned to the sky where a hawk flew by. Mitsuki smiled -_because he knew that hawk, and he knew that upon it's back sat a crest imbued with power and love. _He turned back to his food, the other two still absorbed in their meals not seeing the flicker of hope that had flown past them.

_The time was drawing near. The powers that had been sleeping since the war were stirring because the truth was slowly surfacing. But until the people could fully see it, it was best to relocate and plan. The lands of worlds unknown to others than the patriarch of the Uchiha were waiting. And Mitsuki was going to guide the chosen few there. It was his job just as it was his parents job to gather those loyal to the Uchiha and lead them there. It was a new beginning that was awaiting them. And these children deserved the chance to grow free of the darkness that had festered here for centuries. _

As they finished eating Mitsuki stood and waited for the other two outside the restaurant. The sky was bright but in the far distance clouds gathered for the storm that was approaching. It had been long awaited. The drought _-the lies- _had been devastating the land of Fire and the rain -_the truth-_ was finally going to relieve that. The soothing wind and rain was a welcomed change from the scorching heat.

Sarada and Boruto came out soon after and they set off for home. Their mission was going to start early in the next morning and they had to get a goodnights rest before it. Mitsuki set off alone with a wave and a small smile. The time was almost here.

Sarada raised her hand a half hearted goodbye and dropped it as her teammate disappeared from view. She and Boruto continued in silence for a while before stopping. This is where they had to separate. She had to go back to her empty apartment -_her mothers toxic words and desperate tears had torn her broken heart until Sarada had walked out-_ and Boruto to his love filled home -_it had become suffocating, not only was Hinata always there watching over her children like a warden but now his father seemed to be anxious about Boruto's similarities to Sasuke. _

"See you tomorrow." Sarada told him with her eyes still downcast but he grabbed her wrist before she could move away. She cast a confused look toward him and was met with a determined look that made his blue eyes burn with a beautiful fire -_**a fire**__ that she had seen in her father's gaze and knew that the Seventh also had deep within in his core._

"I trust Sasuke-san. I trust him and his devotion to you and me. He'll be back to clear this mess or he'll contact us. I'm sure of it." And he is, she can see it in his eyes. And she wants to believe as well.

"Thank you, Boruto." Her answer causes him to smile, his eyes burning in the shadow of the tree they are standing in.

She watches him leave with his sure and determined steps. Sarada treasures that. Like she treasures her father and the memories she has of him. Her eyes burn, the pain in her chest -_a fist squeezing her heart and lungs-_ moves to her head, and suddenly she can see -_the shadows part and the darkness clears as __**her heart guides her. **_

She stands -_rooted to the tainted ground, tainted with the __**blood of her family**__ and countless others-_ her hands shaking -_in fear, in anger and in the purest form of __**fury**__\- _her hair swaying in the wind -_wind that longed to free- _and her chakra crackling and burning -_fire and lightning sizzling under her skin, begging to burst out and devour the darkness before her eyes._

Sarada stilled, her breath catching as the truth was laid before her eyes in an instant -_the hurt, the pain, the desperation, the anger, the loss, the fury- _and then it was gone. Buried beneath the seal where it had remained for months. She turned, her eyes still burning and met a pair of dark orbs that watched her -_they weren't burning with the familiar flame that she had come to associate with her father, but with a pitch black and cold hatred- _and she knew those eyes.

Kakashi Hatake stood in the dark shadows and watched. Saw conviction of Boruto and the secretive smiles of Mitsuki. And now he saw the Burning fury of Sarada. The sun was finally setting, signalling the end of the day. She stood in the sunset light, her sharingan blazing in blood red -_like her uncle, her grandfather, like her great-great grandfather, like the founding father of the Uchiha, like her father- _and Kakashi saw another foe, another enemy that wanted this village to burn to the ground.

_Fire was an essential part of life -it brought warmth and it brought safety from the predators in the night. It was also destructive, burning down houses and suffocating people who got too close. It could be the ultimate protector or the ultimate destroyer. Kakashi knew this as did Sarada. But Sarada also knew that the wildfire was needed. When a forest had grown and it begun its decline, wildfire was needed to assure a new beginning. It might hurt in that moment -the burning cleanse- but it would enable life to begin anew. __**And if there was no wildfire, then the new beginning would never come**__._

Their eyes stayed locked. Because **she was a wildfire** -_a force that was largely beyond control of people-_ and attempting to cage her would never work -_she was even wilder than her father whose dark burning passion never died-_ and her anger would never be redirected -_controlling a flaming forest was possible, but only if the wind was agreeable._

Boruto kept his fast pace and reached his home. He stopped in front of the front door and took a deep breath. Then opened it. He hugged his sister and mother. Talked with them about his day and how well everything was going. How he was doing so well and how everything was fine. _Like it always was, everything was always fine because if it wasn't he was just becoming a monster like that person they used to know._

He excused himself so his room when his mother begun to prepare dinner. He wouldn't eat it _-and his mother knew that as well so why did she even bother at this point-_ and would instead spend his time training his chakra control. _He had to get stronger to protect Sarada and Mitsuki because those eyes had been watching again today and they would keep watching until no lies remained. He had to protect the people he held dearest. _

Boruto watched the sunset from his room window, the blood pouring trough the windows. He sensed her -he knew that she was reaching out from across the village and Boruto wanted to respond to it -_love was so all consuming, he knew that his mother had never once lied about the depths of her feelings toward his father. _Boruto watched, eyes watering as her cry for help went unanswered -_because he wasn't going to able to protect her_. There was a crash -a sound so loud that it seemed to echo trough the whole village, the earth shaking. He stood and was out of the window in a flash.

He saw it just as the massive chakra wave crashed over him. The warrior -_vengeful god of war-_ dressed in amour shining dark violet in the sunlight. The chakra crushed those weaker under its weight and made those who feared tremble in terror. To Boruto it was a shining beacon of hope. The violet wings spreading wide and lifting from the ground -_the fiery chakra of Sarada cradled safely in the arms of her fathers protective rage. _Boruto clutched his jacket tighter as several black glad shinobi appeared a few houses away from him. They were looking at the blond with hatred and suspicion. Sai was looking at him with cool eyes that reflected the same sentiment.

Boruto didn't move as they moved closer. He didn't defend himself when their hands reached out to him. And then his mother was there. Her chakra swirling around her in a desperate attempt to protect him. And she did. Blood and tears mixed _-she had always loved him so dearly, he had been her first born so he always held a special place in her heart. _She protected him now, her smile fading to a determined look. This was his mother -_whose light had been dimmed by her shining husband but whose light had remained and whose smile had lit the way for Boruto and Himawari. _

The strike that drew blood forced an answering scream from his lips. His eyes burned with tears and hate -_darkness that so boldly reached into the daylight where it held no power and suffocating the living- _and he struck. It went on and on, and _**time didn't exist because no amount of time was enough to process the fact that this village had turned on them just because they believed.**_ And then he was suddenly safe -the fierce, protective power descending upon them and wrapping around them. Hinata was caught in Sarada's arms as she collapsed while Boruto reached out to help steady his mother.

Boruto watched as the shinobi of his own village launched a barrage of attacks -_desperate and fearful of their own fate at the hands of this feared madman, when they should have been terrified of their fate at the hands of the village -_none of which made it past the Susanoo's protective walls. Boruto gripped his mothers sleeve as she stood slowly, her body trembling at the strain, and then walked to Sasuke who stood before them.

His hair was longer, though he had pushed it back from his face to reveal both eyes. He was still wearing a black cape though it wasn't nondescript as before, with embellishments here and there telling of status and power. His black pants an shoes remained though his vest had been switched to a dark purple with more decorations. He looked more powerful than the last time, and the sword he held in his hand seemed sharper -as though the betrayal had sharpened it once more.

Hinata grasped his sleeve with a trembling hand. "Himawari… Himawari was downstairs." She told him and Sasuke nodded. His eyes turned to Sarada whose burning crimson eyes flashed as she nodded and then jumped out of the Susanoo landing near the house and rushing in. Boruto stood by his mother hands ready to form seals should that be required of him.

Sarada soon emerged with a crying and confused Himawari cradled in her arms. Sasuke quickly enveloped her back into the chakra fortress. Hinata embraced her daughter as soon as she could and kept her close as she stood. Boruto sensed it along with the rest of them. There was a flash of chakra before they were faced with the sun of the village. _His shine seemed less bright when the darkness that tainted his actions and thoughts was uncovered._ He seemed upset, but with who -_Sasuke or Hinata for their apparent betrayal or maybe it was Boruto who had once again failed him, or maybe it was himself that Naruto was disappointed in, or maybe he was upset at the system that he was a part of._

There was a clash between the two heroes of the war -_one beloved by the whole shinobi world and the other who had always been feared and accused- _and after it was over there was silence -_the world held its breath, waiting for the resolution of centuries of hatred and love. _Naruto gave them a short and sad smile -_so different from the usual cheer on his face-_ before nodding. Sasuke seemed to return it -_friends was the word that had tied them together and it wasn't something that was going away apparently, so they greeted each other as friends and said goodbye as friends. _The they were suddenly high in the sky -_free in a way that Boruto had never known before, yet it was so unbearably sad. _

His mother embraced him and Himawari followed not a second later. He embraced their warmth and smiled a sad smile as tears flowed down his cheeks. He opened his eyes to see Sarada. She was standing next to her father, her face pressed against his side while his hand held her close. Her trembling and silent sobs were painful -_she wasn't just crying because she had gained something but because had also lost something and she had never realised it as keenly as just then when her mother and all she held dear and looked up to faded further away._

Mitsuki stood on the roof, his arms crossed, a small smile playing on his lips. This was the moment of truth. Sarada was safe. Boruto had a change to be free. The snakes hissed in victory as they scattered to the ground below him. Mitsuki felt the warm rays of the sun fade and the night winds rush past him toward the freedom. The moon above seemed brighter than before and he smiled as he vanished to the trees. He met the group of escorts he had been assigned and took off.

_This was the beginning of the end for some and the beginning for others. The new sun that had been born and raised in the shadow of the old one was ready to shine for himself. The moon that had been reflecting that false ideal world was finally finding its own power and spreading its wings like all her ancestors before her. And the small white snake that had been slithering in the ground was finally shedding its skin and beginning its journey to lands its species had never even dreamed off. This was their chance to change the world._

**A/N **

**Hi! So this is the second chapter of this story and the second last. So it's going to be a three parter. **

**Hope you enjoyed and please review or message me with any questions. **

**Excuse my English and grammar errors.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings: Depression, infidelity/cheating?, mentions of sex, thoughts of abortion/unwanted child (very briefly and hinted more than said)  
Pairings: Past SasuSaku and NaruHina, implied BoruSara, SasuHina**

Time of Change

Darkness. Everywhere she looked she only saw darkness. It had been her friend and her enemy. It was her beloved home and her most hated prison. And she knew that she could always step out of the all-consuming blackness yet she never did. Because she had come to know it so well and yet it made her so afraid. _She had to find a balance between the fear and the courage, the hate and love, home and prison, obsession and affection. _

Hinata awoke slowly. Her hair was in disarray though she made no move to straighten it. What was the point when there was no one to see her unkept state -_he had been there to watch over her in the darkest hours of the night so she had kept her face and hair beautiful because he deserved a beautiful wife._ But she hadn't seen Naruto in over a year. She had kept her distance, refused to go back to their original world when offered. She had wanted to, of course but after seeing the tears of Sarada she couldn't. _A mother who swore she loved her daughter and yet she had cursed the blood that flowed in her veins. Hinata had never seen that side of Sakura and while she knew that the light haired woman was more than capable of anger she had never imagined that her rage could be so coldly directed toward her own daughter -__**not the child, but the man she so resembled with her dark hair and blazing red eyes filled with hatred and sorrow.**_

Hinata sat up on the soft bed and sighed, closing her milky eyes for a moment. Her head had been aching for several days. _She remembered the pain so well -the pain of using her own blood line limit when she was still young and so very inexperienced with it. She remembered the symptoms that come from exhaustion and from the time she had been pregnant with her children. In each case the pain had been unpleasant but usually caused by a good thing -a child she had conceived with her beloved husband, a long night of training, the ability passed through generations to bring her strength. _

Her hand wondered to her stomach for moment but she refused to check with byakugan. She didn't want to know. She had been feeling guilty enough about abandoning her vows that she didn't need to know what her infidelity had produced. She was determined to wait a couple more days. _She had ruled out exhaustion after several days of sleeping in and doing nothing that could exert her. Only two reasons remained but one hadn't occurred since her early years in training. Yet she hoped. She wasn't sure she wanted to bring a child into the world when her whole reality had just crumpled to dust._

Hinata stood from the bed and dragged the sheets with her to the bathroom that was adjoined to her bedroom. Showering and then dressing in a light gown she left the bathroom and entered back into the bedroom where she combed her hair briefly and then left. Boruto was sitting in the kitchen that opened to her. Hinata nodded to him and cast her eyes about the room -Sarada was reading on the couch with her head resting on her father's chest. Sasuke kept a sturdy hand on a scroll he was reading while casting glances toward the bedroom door painted in pink and purple.

"Good morning." Hinata told them while walking to the kitchen aisle where breakfast was waiting for her.

"Morning, mum." Boruto mumbled back from around the toast in his mouth.

"Good morning Hinata-san." Sarada called with the dark haired male humming in agreement.

"Himawari still asleep?" Hinata asked while preparing her own breakfast from the available ingredients. Her gaze wondered back to Sasuke who shook his head with a slight frown grazing his face. Hinata looked at him for a moment -even more handsome now that he didn't hide his heritage and abilities behind his long fringe. She waited for him to elaborate for a heartbeat and he did not disappoint -_they could read each other disturbingly well, in a similar fashion as Naruto had been able to interact with her, acting in sync without talking but the distance that had formed between Hinata and her husband didn't exist here._

"She woke a few hours ago, but hasn't come out from her room." "_It's a bad day again", _was left unsaid but Hinata caught it regardless.

Himawari had been switching between her sunny personality, deep depression and dark hatred. Some days were good; she was happy and had fun with the people who shared a home with her. Other days she moped around and hung out mostly with Boruto or Hinata. And on the more and more frequent anger filled days she would stay besides Sasuke, eerily similar to the clan leader with her dark eyes and calm but deadly aura. Hinata was worried but knew that there was only so much that she could help with. Being there for her daughter was the only thing she could do -_everyone in the room, Sasuke more than the others, understood how easily wrong words and smothering actions could lead to a darker path. Hinata wanted to avoid forcing Himawari into anything, be that healing that could not yet happen yet or forcing her further away from those she held dear. So the group kept their distance but everyone kept an eye on the youngest._

"I'll check on her later, to see if she would rather stew or if she wants to train." Sasuke promised and Hinata was grateful.

"Thank you." _As much as she hated having either of her children training, or becoming more ready to kill, she understood that the instinct was already there and supressing it while not impossible was difficult and possibly detrimental to their development. Hinata also understood that her youngest needed an outlet and origami wouldn't cut it. _

"It's nothing. I already promised Sarada to help her with her sharingan training today so helping Himawari train won't be a burden." Hinata nodded and Sasuke turned back to Sarada with a slight nod.

_She was a heiress, the next leader that would never inherit that title. She had been cast aside. She grew to be strong because she saw a boy who was strong despite everything -__**someone who believed despite the reality and the words of others, someone who saw further than destiny or the darkness within ones heart. **__She grew with him, to be able to protect the one who protected all the others -__**loved the village despite the flaws, loved the people who hated him and never gave in. **__She loved and he finally loved her -__**seeing her at long last and how could she say no when the one she had worshipped and adored asked for her hand in marriage. **__Her dreams became reality__** and then suddenly she awoke from the dream; reality was harsh. **__Hinata took her love and her children, carrying them to safety, hoping that one day he would come to them -__**and that then, the reality would match her dreams**__. Her hope wavered -like her confidence when she faced her sister for the third time, __**already knowing the outcome before she took a step forward**__. She begun building -for the sake of her children if not for herself because __**she had wanted to keep dreaming for the rest of her life. **__But he had offered his hand. Helping when she fell. Comforting her and the children with a steady shoulder or a gentle hug -__**whichever was needed to force the darkness back. **__She felt that affection and the fire that she remembered dreaming of awoke once more. And she sought more than a hug. And he gave her everything she had missed. __**And now she missed him, not the man she had been dreaming of for years. **__Hinata had fallen and she knew that no matter what she wanted now__**, the fire had been lit and she had no intention of extinguishing it. **_

Hinata finished eating and cast a wondering look around the room, while talking to Boruto. Her eyes met with dark gaze of the man she now dreamed of. For a second time froze and after they continued. At the end of the day they met in her bedroom. And Hinata held his hand to her belly, her byakugan blazing, reflecting the spinning red and the calm purple eyes. _**She chose this for her children but now she could choose for herself as well. **_His lips met hers halfway. _**And by the old gods, she was free to love this man and their family, she was free to prove herself as the mother she knew herself to be; powerful and fierce, capable of taking on the burdens of her children and her beloved. And she knew that she was free to ask for something else -for love and freedom from the man who had been longing for both his whole life.**_

Sarada took his hand with a smile and Boruto was grateful. The sharingan princess accepted him and the burden that came with it -_as he accepted her and her burdens of hate and darkness that came with her last name_. They watched together as his mother fussed over Sasuke and Himawari who had returned form a mission with a few bruises and cuts. The dark haired man smiled but said that he was fine, if a bit banged up while Himawari cast a dark but amused look toward him before ratting out that the man had once again protected her. Hinata cast a dark look toward Sasuke while forcing the other to sit down.

Boruto watched as Himawari wondered over to the living area and sat down beside the young boy sitting on the couch. Kazuki was turning eight in a few months and the whole village was looking forward to his birthday party -after all the was going to be named the next heir of the Uchiha clan. Sarada had refused the honour and was being groomed to become the next leader of the village, a protector and a guiding hand to the younger generation. Though she would still have to wait several years before assuming the position she had already committed herself to becoming part of the guard that protected the village.

Kazuki had been given the title after Sarada had decided that he would be better suited for it -intelligent and kind, calm but bright. The young boy had grown to resemble Sasuke, his hair was black with a blue tint and his eyes were black like his fathers. His skin was a porcelain like his mothers. His movements were naturally fluid and though he did not train in the ninja arts. He would make a fine leader in time.

Boruto had joined the guard along with Sarada and had stayed by her side, a shadow to her like Sasuke had been to Naruto years earlier. He had passed the position of the new Hyuuga clan head to Himawari who had quickly agreed to it -she was a natural warrior and leader and her power and sharp eyes had earned her a reputation as one of their best protectors. Because of her personality she got along with Kazuki despite their age difference.

Boruto glanced at her mother who had finally relented with her fussing and moved to give a kiss to her husbands brow before moving to help Sarada and Boruto. They had been holding the newest addition to their family and his sister -Emiko who bore her mothers milky eyes and her fathers black hair with a purple tint- and Hinata came to relieve them of their guard over the girl and her fussy younger brother. Emiko had turned four several weeks ago and while she could take care of herself her younger brother was troublesome.

Raijin had been born six months ago and they had all acknowledged that with the difficult and exhausting labour as well as the overall difficult pregnancy that he would be the last child Hinata would have. He had come into being during one of the worst storms that any of them had ever witnessed. He had been named by the lightning that had accompanied his birth not to mention the chakra he had been born with seemed to be a force of its own -shocking those close to him when he was upset. The boy's silvery eyes and blue hair were a unique combination that no one in the family had been expecting. Sasuke had said that the blue hair must have come from his grandmother whose blue hair had marked both his and his mother's hair with its delicate tint.

Boruto smiled as Emiko stood, abandoning her toys and walked to Sasuke who hugged the child with smile on his lips. Raijin on the other was plucked from Sarada's arms by Hinata and cooed back to sleep when he begun to fuss. Kazuki had also left the couch he had been sitting on to greet Sasuke with a hug. The dark-haired man smiled, hair tied with a leather tie sliding down as he bended to hug the young boy, his two rinnegan eyes shining with love. Hinata smiled coming to stand with her husband as Boruto and Sarada approached the group.

Sasuke smiled, a decade after leaving the world where they had all build lives they had succeeded in building another one here; the world where there was no conflict, a land where the food and water were plentiful and the climate favourable. Sasuke nodded to Sarada who walked to join their little family circle hand in hand with Boruto. While they were already technically family with his and Hinata's union they had confessed love to each other, and he had allowed it. They were not related by blood though they were called "big brother and big sister" by the younger children.

Children who he had sired and Hinata had given birth to. His children, powerful, happy, protected and content. Even after Hinata wold pass they would be more than powerful enough to protect themselves and the people dear to them. Not to mention that Sasuke had already promised Hinata that instead of joining her upon her end, he would watch over the children and their children. He would stay and watch over this place. And if Hinata or any of the kids or villagers wanted to do the same he would grant them that.

Though he and Himawari along with other groups made runs to their old worlds to gather scrolls and items that were their –_passes through generations in hopes of peace and love- _they didn't have any troubles in their new village. People who lived here were all peaceful and the group had been welcomed –_because they too had seen war and the horrors it brought. They wanted to be free of it. _Of course their old acquaintances that still lived in the five great nations were less than happy to have them visit, but they managed.

A utopia with a peaceful land, dear friends and family and hope for the future. He had succeeded in what had felt like a pipedream -leaving the terrors and darkness behind and finding a future for himself and the people he cared for. He smiled as Hinata hugged him. He had found love again. _A woman who shared so much with him, and yet was nothing alike. Someone that Sasuke could depend on and yet still protect. Someone who understood his pain yet refused to pity him -__**forcing him to reach new heights in power and in character. **_

Sasuke returned the looks of love he shared with Boruto, Sarada and Himawari -all them of his students and powerful. _The conflicted and arrogant boy who had learned to be a silent protector yet remained bright. The fiery princess, hell bent on destruction, had become a comforting warmth and a guiding light as she always wanted. The angry and depressed girl had grown to be a powerful leader and a fierce warrior. _He laughed as he played with the kids he was so happy to call his own. _Kazuki who was so calm and collected yet at the same time so very kind and gentle, but still wise beyond his years. A leader in the making. Someone worthy of the name Uchiha even if his eyes never shone blood red -__**Sasuke always had hoped that none of his children would ever awaken the sharingan; embraced it when they did but never expected it or wanted it from them.**_ _Emiko with her independent attitude and fierce eyes -__**a guide, a leader, a teacher for those who would come. **__Raijin with his outbursts of energy and anger, feisty and bright -__**a child who would grow to protect those he held dear, a guardian angel of heavens.**_

Life had never been easy, as a child it had been a world filled with happiness -_though one could call it ignorance or innocence._ As a teenager it had been filled with hatred and sorrow -_nothing but vengeance mattered, hatred and fury twisting his soul and mind until it was unrecognisable. _As an adult the world had changed -_black and white had become shades of gray and blue and red and yellow. The world had revealed itself as complex and beautiful __**yet unforgiving, harsh and sometimes, unchanging. **_As he aged he travelled, saw nations and worlds form and fall. Saw the darkness and the light, the people living in both and he wondered -_if the world was twisted beyond repair, why not build a better world, one that had learned from the mistakes of the past? So he did and made one final attempt to help those he considered friends -__**taking upon himself the hatred of the world as he had planned when the war had ended.**_

He had built a village in a faraway world, taking with him those who wanted to leave. After the first year they had built a community of a few hundred. After five there had been several thousand. They were building and scouring worlds for those who wanted peace over the wars and conflict. People who wanted a place for their children to grow up happy and content. This was a haven, one created by those that had never had it. Surprisingly it worked. The darkness that plagued the other places they all come from was left outside the walls and barriers that protected them. This community had reached the goal that people had dreamed for thousands of years -peace.

_The founders had wanted the same but failed in where this place had succeeded -__**leaving the demons outside. **__Madara and_ _Hashirama had brought the past and the grievances of it with them to the settlement they build. The people they welcomed never learned to abandon the fear. And it all fell apart -the village remained but the idea it had been founded on had been forgotten. Children, the kings, the future, who were meant to grow up -__**not die in wars-**__ still died in wars and in vain._

Sasuke laughed and smiled as he watched the children play along with his wife and the older children. He hoped that one day, he could bring the people he had left behind to this place, show them that the dream that they had always had was possible. _Like a seed, it just needed a right place, the right gardener, a reasonable amount of sunlight, water and nutrients and a whole lot of love. This was how to achieve peace. And the only way to do that was to learn from past mistakes and_ _**change.**_

**A/N**

**Hi, this the last chapter for this story. Hope you all enjoyed and if you have any questions, requests or concerns please pm. **

**Please review! **

**Forgive my grammar errors since I'm not a native speaker.**


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